NYT “Stupid Games” Story Features Stupid Game That Lets You Obliterate the Webpage

Recently, The New York Times ran a piece about culture’s addiction to time wasters (i.e., “stupid games”). Though super lengthy, it was a good read, especially if you’re into game study or a history of simple games. But the editorial content wasn’t the best part of the page — it was the eye-catching illustration: The story about “stupid games” featured a stupid game that lets readers shoot up the webpage.

You can take aim and blast away at the ads, the Facebook login interface, blog comments and more. Gotta say, it’s oddly satisfying to come across a comment you totally disagree with and blast it to smithereens. You can even send those pesky article thumbnails to hell.

Blowing away relish: Before (left) and after (right)

The credit for this very clever game goes to the NYT‘s Jon Huang, who based it off the original game by Rootof Creations HB.

As for the article itself, it references games like Angry Birds, FarmVille and even that age old time-wasting classic, Tetris, among others, and attempts to demystify humanity’s age-old obsession with them. Seems the most successful ones have elements that are part math and part art form, and/or rely on humanity’s innate need to problem-solve in an undiluted, moment-to-moment format. By this line of thinking, they aren’t just games, but a window into the human mind that taps the very essence of who we are.

Too deep? No worries. You can hit up the source link and blast away at the colorful images on the page instead. Just try not to get addicted.